Warning: Vent ahead....

by Drago, Wednesday, May 23, 2012, 11:30 (4568 days ago) @ Hoot

I had a similar situation on an Ebay auction a few years ago. There was a fishing shop in Australia that listed some Swedish fly reels for auction. I was winning until five minutes before the end, the shop closed the auction. In checking their other auctions, they did the same thing, closed a few minutes before the end. I asked them why they'd closed it. Their response was that my bid (and those by others), was far below what the sold those reels for in their shop. I pointed out that Ebaers were looking for bargains, and I suggested that they put resrves in if they were concerned with losing money, They replied that they felt reserves were intimidating bidders. I don't think they ever did sell anything, and I noticed a few weeks later that the no longer had an account on Ebay.
In your case, Hoot, the usual "unwritten" rule is that if there's a bid in place, then the item shouldn't be sold locally.